Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-12-02
7oADs rn.4r CUR DISEASES.

|
ToADs That CURE DISEASES.
In Devonshire the approved treat
mont for scrofula at the present day is
to dry the hind leg Of a toad and wear
it round the neck in silken bag, or
else they cut off that part of the living
reptile which answers to that part af-
fected by scrofula, and having wrapped
the fragment in parchment, tie it
round the neck OF the sufferer. In
cases of rheumatism, says the Ni11c-
teenM Century,, "wise man" OF
Devonslire will burn toad to ashes
and tie the dust in bit of silk to be
Worn round the throat SO recently as
1922 one of these quacks travelled
through England ain his own gig"
Each patient who consulted him was
required to bring him fec of shill-
ings and q live toad. He pocketed the
shillings and cut the hind legs off the
luckless toads, placing them in small
bags which he solemnly hung round
the neck of the sufferer, who was re-
CURED to wear this unfragrant APP
pendage till the leg was quite decayed.
For the same malady the same remedy
was in the last century recommended
by beggar wife to a girl at Gaddesden
who had been sufferer from her in
fancy. 1t is stated that the cure was
effected and the girl never suffered
afterward. But it is worthy of note
that the beggar wife explained that the
efficacy Of the charm lay in the death
of the poor mutilated toad, which, de-
prived of its legs, would pine and die.
but as it slowly wasted so would the
distemper pass away. Here, then, Us
in the Offering of tho live cock, was in
volved the principle of sacritice-a life
for life. Another girl i'll the same
village was partly cured of the "evil"
in her eyes by applying a sun-dried
toad to the back Of her neck, whereby
blisters were raised. Poor toads are
still made to do service in divers man
ners in Cornwall and Northampton for
the cure of nose bleeding and quinsy,
while toad powder" or even live
toad or spider shut up in box, is still
in some places accounted as useful a
charm against contagion as it was i'll the
days Of Sir kenelm Digby. The medi-
cine known to our ancestors as pulvis
;cthiopicus "a valuable remedy both for
external and internal use in the treat
ment of smallpox and dropsy) was
neither more nor less than powdered
toad. Frogs are well-nigh as valuable
as toads to the sick poor, who are rarely
lacking in the primary necessity of
faith i'll the means adopted. Thus
frogs spawn placed in stone jar and
buried for three months till it turns to
water has been found wonderfully eff
ficacious in Donegal when we'll rubbed
into arheumatic limb How much of
the credit was due to the rubbing is not
recorded. In Aberdeenshire q cure
recommended for sore eyes is to lick
the eyes of live frog. The man who
has thus been healed has henceforth
the power Of curing all sore eyes by
merely licking them! In like manner
it is said in Iceland that the tongue
which has licked lizard all over will
| be forever endued with a marvellous
power of healing whatever sore OF pain
it, touches. Another Irish remedy is to
apply the tongue of fox to draw a
troublesome thorn from the foot; the
tooth Of living fox, to be worn as an
amulet, is also deemed valuable as a
cure for an inflamed leg. The primary
difficulty is to catch the fox and ex-
tract his tooth.